Spring-foam cushion



Feb. 4, 1969 v v w. A. BECHTOLDT 3,425,068

' SPRING-FOAM CUSHION Filed Aug. 7, 1967 INVENTOR. WAYNE A. BECHTOLDT United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spring cushion including a burlap covered coil spring resilient unit surrounded by molded foam material. A sheet of plastic covers the top, front and back of the resilient unit and prevents adherence of the foam material to the burlap. The sides of the burlap are adhered to the foam material and because of this are stiffer and less yielding than the front and back of the cushion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to cushions for furniture or the like.

Description of the prior art It is known in the art to provide a spring cushion assembly wherein coil springs in the assembly are covered by burlap and are then surrounded by a pressure molded foam material such as shown, for example, in the U.S. Patent to Ross 3,165,761. It is also known to place springs in cushions in various ways wherein the springs are not adhered to the cushions such as shown, for example, in the Thompson Patent 3,178,735, the Thompson Patent 2,862,214 and the Calla Patent 3,251,078. It has been found, however, that the cushion disclosed in Ross is not entirely satisfactory because it does not provide means for reducing some of the stilfness at the forward and rearward portions of the cushion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of this invention might involve a cushion comprising a resilient unit including a plurality of coiled springs; a fabric casing enclosing said springs; said resilient unit being arranged to define a fiat configuration with a top, a bottom and four sides; a sheet of plastic overlying said top and a first and second of said four sides; and a one piece outer encasement of molded foam material surrounding said fabric casing and sheet of plastic; said fabric casing being of a loose Weave material and having parts of the molded foam material embedded therein and bonded thereto at the third and fourth of said four sides; said sheet of plastic preventing bonding of said molded foam material to said fabric at the top and first and second sides of said resilient unit.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved spring cushionassembly.

Still another object is to provide a spring cushion assembly which is more comfortable to sit on.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spring cushion assembly which is durable and long lasting.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a spring cushion assembly wherein the springs retain their proper position within the cushion and are not felt by the user.

Related objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a spring cushion assembly embodying the present invention with certain portions broken away to show the internal construction of the assembly.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a section similar to FIG. 2 taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a spring-containing resilient unit covered by a sheet of plastic, all of which forms a portion of the spring cushion assembly of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alternations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated a cushion .10 which includes a resilient unit 11 and an outer encasement 12 of molded foam material. The particular illustrated resilient unit 11 includes two rows 14 of five coil springs .15 and three rows 18 of four coil springs. The springs 15 in each row are secured together by helices 16 in the manner best shown in FIG. 16 of application for United States Patent, Ser. No. 426,930, and now U.S. Patent No. 3,334,665, of Walter K. Black, owned by the same assignee as the present application. The machinery disclosed in said copending application can be used to form the coil spring and helices assembly as shown in FIG. 16 of that copending application.

Subsequent to the connecting together of the coil springs in the manner described in the copending application, the rows are individually covered by burlap or fabric 17. Lastly, in the assembly of the resilient unit 11, the rows 14 are secured together by means of rings or clips 20 which surround in all cases adjacent helices 16 and in most cases the adjacent springs 15 also. The outer foam or sponge encasement 10 of the cushion may be formed of any suitable material which is molded by pressure such as polyurethane or polyester foams. The material of which the encasement 10 is formed is molded under pressure in any conventional manner around the resilient unit 11. Prior to molding the material constituting the encasement 10 around the resilient unit 11, a sheet of plastic 21 is laid across the top 22 and the sides 25 and 26 of the resilient unit 11. For the sake of clarity, the thickness of the plastic 21 and fabric 17 is exaggerated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

During the molding operation and before the material constituting the encasement 10 has set, the material will seep through the Walls or burlap or fabric sides 27 of the resilient unit 11 so as to effectively bond the molded foam material to the resilient unit 11. The plastic 21, however, prevents the molded foam material from seeping though the top 22 and the sides 25 and 26 of the resilient unit 11 and instead causes the molded foam material to adhere to the sheet of plastic 21. Since the sheet of plastic 21 is flexible and thin, the front 30 and the rear 31 of the cushion become more flexible and more comfortable and less rigid than the sides 32 and 33 of the cushion which are adjacent the bonded sides 27 and 28 of the resilient uni-t. Also, because the ends of the rows 14 and 18 are rounded or part-cylindrical in shape and because the molded foam material flows between those rows, the ends of the rows are effectively secured together and to the encasement providing a durable and long-lasting spring cushion assembly.

It will be evident from the above description that the present invention provides an improved spring cushion assembly and one which is more comfortable to sit upon because of the relatively less rigid forward and rearward portions of the spring cushion assembly. It will also be evident that the spring cushion assembly of the present invention includes springs which retain their proper position within the cushion and are not felt by the user.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only one preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected. For example, in one alternative form of the invention, the plastic 21 may cover, in addition to the sides 25 and 26 and the top 22, the upper portion of the sides 27 and 28 so that the foam fiows between the rows and adheres to the fabric only at the bottom portion of the sides 27 and 28 while, in another alternative embodiment, the rows of springs may extend from front to rear of the cushion instead of from side to side thereof.

I claim:

1. A cushion comprising a resilient unit including a plurality of coiled springs; a fabric casing enclosing said springs; a sheet of plastic covering a first portion of said resilient unit but not covering a second portion of said unit, and a one piece outer encasement of molded foam material surrounding said fabric casing and sheet of plastic, said fabric casing being of a loose weave material and having the molded foam material embedded therein and bonded thereto at the second portion of said resilient unit which is not covered by said sheet of plastic, said sheet of plastic preventing bonding of said molded foam material to said fabric at the first portion of said unit.

2. The cushion of claim 1 wherein said resilient unit has a flat configuration with a top and a bottom and four sides, said sheet of plastic overlying said top and a first and second of said four sides, said sheet of plastic preventing bonding of said molded foam material to said fabric at the top and first and second sides of said resilient unit, said fabric casing having the molded foam material embedded therein and bonded thereto at said third and fourth sides.

3. The cushion of claim 2 wherein said springs are arranged in rows, helices securing the springs of each row together, said fabric being arranged to surround each row, clips attaching the helices of adjacent rows to one another, said rows extending parallel to said first and second sides, said rows having fabric covered opposite ends within which is embedded said foam material whereby the ends of said rows are secured together by said foam material.

4. The cushion of claim 2 wherein the bottom of said resilient unit is not covered by molded foam material.

5. The cushion of claim 2 wherein said molded foam material has a flat configuration and first, second, third and fourth sides positioned outwardly of the first, second, third and fourth sides respectively of said resilient unit; said first and second sides forming the front and back of said cushion and being parallel to one another, said third and fourth sides tapering away from one another and forming the sides of said cushion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,805,429 9/1957 Wollor 5-3S3 2,862,214 12/1958 Thompson et a1. 5353 3,130,964 4/1964 Johnson 2671 3,178,735 4/1965 Thompson et al 5353 3,165,761 1/1965 Ross 5-351 3,251,076 5/1966 Burke 5-351 3,251,078 5/1966 Calla 5-353 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 5-351 

